The other week I went to the Victorian actress Ellen Terry’s cottage at Smallhythe, near Tenterden in Kent, now managed by the National Trust. Terry first took over the cottage in 1899. A year after her death in 1928 her daughter, Edith Craig, transformed the house into a museum which now displays a fascinating personal and theatrical collection that reflects Ellen’s extraordinary career and unconventional private life.
Among the exhibits on display is Terry’s “Chinese Dress(s)”. The Chinese style robes were worn by Terry around 1910. Sorry about my rather poor photography – the lower one of Smallhythe Place is from the National Trust…
Wild Ride – an RASBJ event with Anne Stevenson-Yang on the opening and closing of the Chinese economy, in conversation with James McGregor Wednesday, July 24th, 2024 at 8:30-9.30PM PM Beijing Time (Zoom)
How did China become the second largest economy in the world in just over four decades? And how did this economic miracle come to an end, as seems the case today? Author Anne Stevenson-Yang will introduce her latest book of non-fiction published in April, which takes us back to the beginning, when Deng Xiaoping took over and opened its moribund economy to Western money and know-how. Having lived and worked in China for a quarter of a century, Anne traces China’s tumultuous development from the roaring 1980s to today’s malaise. She asks what happened to the promise of the political change that would come with the opening of the economy, and argues that that capitalist experiment is over. ‘It took me years to understand that I was an unwitting player in an elaborate dramatic confection.’
Free for RASBJ members. RMB 50 for members of RAS branches in London, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul. RMB 100 for non-members. You may find payment by Alipay easier than by Wechat. You can also pay by credit card. Interested in becoming an RASB member? Please sign up at http://rasbj.org/membership/
Please click “Register” or “I will attend” before July 22 and follow the instructions. After successful registration you’ll receive a confirmation email with a link to join the event online. If you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder.
Members of partner RAS Branches: Please register 72 hours in advance to allow time for membership verification. You’ll receive three emails from us: the first confirming receipt of your registration request, the second requesting payment, and the third confirming receipt of your payment. Please check your spam folder to ensure you see all RASBJ emails.
Anyone who has spent time in Beijing in the last ten years will find plenty to make them nostalgic, or perhaps (as the young say) “trigger” them in Anthony Tao’s new collection of poetry, We Met in Beijing… And we all really should support poetry… available all over the place – here on Amazon …
“Beijing is a city of multitudes, filled with contradictions and constantly in flux. It is a place for dreamers and schemers, musicians and migrant workers, techies and teachers, cat ladies and cab drivers—and at the same time, a place for none of them, a seat of power that can feel unwelcoming and closed. In his debut book, Anthony Tao opens the gates to the tree-lined streets, dusty alleys, mirthful canals, fashionable rooftops and sweaty nightclubs of China’s political and cultural nerve center, and invites readers to experience the exhilaration, hardship, and heartbreak of trying to put down roots in this gritty, unrelenting metropolis.”
Feminist, travel writer and novelist Stella Benson went to China in 1920, where she worked in a mission school and hospital, before marrying Imperial Chinese Customs man James (Shaemas) O’Gorman Anderson. They lived in Nanning, Beihai and Hong Kong. in 1922 she published The Poor Man, about Edward R. Williams, a bit of a mess set adrift in a world gone awry who drinks far too much. Towards the end of the novel he arrives in Hong Kong and China making his way to Peking. There he finds himself at what must be the Fox Tower (Dongbianmen) – which if you’re read my book Midnight in Peking, you’ll be familiar with…..
‘There was a brick slope that climbed to the top of the wall. Iron gates barred both the foot and the head of the slope but the gates were easily climbed. Edward was on the broad weedy path that ran on the top of the wall. The seeds of flowers and tall grasses had accepted the wall as part of the soil of China. Edward went into the high-beamed hall of the guard-house. The moonlight made strange and glorious broad spaces of its dusty floor; its dazzled windows looked out on naked moonlight. It was so full of silence that its old walls cracked. That corner of Peking was a watching corner. A little farther on the dragons of the Observatory watched the sky… to the west Peking was like an enchanted forest in the milky half-light.‘
The Fox Tower and the wall (showing the small round-the-wall commuter train that existed) – the slope Benson refers to is just under the arch
A poster for Horniman’s Tea, founded in 1826 on the Isle of Wight, the inventor of packaged tea whose wealth created the Horniman Museum in London. Showing their London warehouses & “Shanghai” plantations (probably because more warehouses, which they had in Shanghai, were boring), which were actually in Fuzhou and tea country.
My latest column in Macau Closer out now – how & why Macao runs through James Clavell’s Shogun (& the new FX multi-award winning Shogun TV series) like Brighton through rock…. click here to read…
From sampan ladies and bamboo scaffolders to street cleaners, fishermen, security guards and market vendors – these workers form the backbone of the fast-paced metropolis of Hong Kong, yet they are often overlooked or taken for granted. Looking beyond the glamorous harbourfront, neon-lit shopping districts and dramatic skyline, Hong Kong Shifts explores the back alleys to meet and learn from the individuals who work tirelessly to keep the city ticking. These are stories and portraits of resilience, wisdom, positivity and strength from the streets of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Shifts is a social impact storytelling platform with a mission to promote kindness, empathy and connection in our living and working environments. At the core of our project is the belief that storytelling is a powerful tool to engage, move and inspire – and, ultimately, to build bridges between diverse communities in the city that we call home.
